Improvement in power-loom



lJOHN G. DUCKWORTH, 0E PITTSFTELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T() DUCKWRTH l Y- AND SONS, OF THE SAME PIVVJAOE. I

Laws mam Na) 90,085, datafMay 1s, 186e.

- rMPRovEMnNT 1N .POWER-Loom The Schedule referred to in these Letters .Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom `it may concern." l

y Beit known that l, JOHN- G. DUonwonTH, of Pittstield, in the county` of Berkshire, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fancy-Looms and I do hereby declare that the following,- isa full and correct description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying` drawings, and to the letters of reference thereon.

l Thel rst part of my invention relates to the mechanism of a fancy-loom,whereby the required leaves of Vheddles are selected and operated to form and shift thel shed. In fancy-looms, this is generally accomplishedV by means ot' a series of jacks, `selected by a `patternmechanism, and directly combined with levers connected `withjthe heddles in suitable manner, the 1 jacks being moved to operate the heddlesby means of reciprocatinglknives, commonly called lifters and der ipressers. y A

Yarious `modes have been devised ot' combining the Jacks, lifters, and depressers, and pattern-mechanism,

zmain frame of the loom, with the` pattern-mechanism '.,belo'w them, so thatthe pattern-chain is eonvenientof access and unobstructed by theother parts of theloom. liilooinsso constructedlierctoibre, the jacks have be'en hinged or jointed tofnpright levers, placedat the side of the loomfone for each leaf ofheddles, and moved toward and from thesidc of the loom, to operate the leaves of hcddles with which they are connected.V

This form ofconstructionis simpleand has many advantages, but is subject to the objection of jarring the loom and the roomin which the loom issituated, `by reason ofthe violence of the motion of so'great a number of side4 levers as are required for the. operations ofthe looin, besidcsthe liability of breakage of the levers. y y

The object of t-his part of my invention .is to obtain the advantages of the arrangement of the jackshorizontally at `the-side of the loom, and projectingontward trom the same, as vabove mentioned, without the disadvantage of the. jarring action` of 'the side levers; and l, t

lt consisisin combinin,\` the ]nckssoplaced und arranged with a series of upright sliding bars, placed at the side of theloom, one for each leaf of heddles, in line with the same, and which more up and down to operate the leaves of heddles with which they are'connected, through bell-crank levers, and suitable cords i above and below, the combination between the hori- Zontal jacks andthe upright sliding rods being effected by means of a series of cogged wheels', or segments,

one for cachV jack, which gear into rack-teeth upon the jacks and upon the upright sliding rods. v `My invention further consists in moving the eveners to close theshed inthe arc of a circle described by the movement of the part ofthe arms ofthe levers upon which they voperate to vclose the shed, for the purpose of preventing the wearing or sawing oi of the cvenerrods by friction upon the levers.l

The next part of my invention consists in a simple" combination and arrangement of mechanism, whereby motion from the crank-shaft of the loom is imparted to the lifters and depressers for movingt,r the jacks that operate the heddles, to the pattern-mechanism which selects said jacks, and to the pattern-mechanism which selects the shuttles. v

In fancy-looms having shifting-shuttle boxes, selected by a pattern-mechanism, the pattern-chain for selecting the shuttles must be moved at every revolution of the crank-shaft which drives the lay, as must also the pattern-mechanism which selects the jacks,` `and the lifters and depressers which move the jacks,`

to form and shift the shed, and their movement must be so timed, with respect lto each other, that each shall perform its function at the proper time in the' operation of the loom.

The object of this part of Ury-invention is to provide a simple and direct mode of imparting the required motion susceptible of .ready adjustment.

To this end, l extend the crankshaft that drives the lay a short distance beyond the side frame of the` loom, outside thereof, and place upon it a cog-wheel,

' upon the side of which is a crank-pin, which drives the link that communicates motion to the, lifters and depre'ssers. Y

' The cog-wheel upon the crank-shaft gearsviuto an other cog-wheel of the same size upon a short crank` shaft, parallel with the iii-st, and supported in a bracket` bearinr outside `of the side frame, which carries two cranks; one of them, iixed iu. the side ofthe cogv wheel, drives the link that operates the ratchet of the pattern-chain which selects the shuttles, and the other crank, placed upon the lopposite end of the short crankshaft, is made adjustable by a set-screw, and drives the link that operates the ratchet of the pattern-chain which selects the heddle-jacks.

The arrangement and combination of the short crankshaft', with its .two cranks and gear-wheel, and the projee-ting end of the crank-shaft which drives the lay and its crank and gear-wheel, beingsueh that the relative adjustment between the lifters and depressers which operate the heddle-jacks, and the pattern-chain which l select-s the shuttles, 1s obtained by shifting the point ol' engagement ofthe gear-wheels with each other, and

this adjustment having been properly made, the relative adjustment of the motion of the pattern-chain which selects the heddle-jacks is eiifected by moving the crank, which drives it around upon the short shaft to its proper place for giving the required motion at the proper time, and securing it in place bythe setscrew.

By thus Ibringing the ends of the three links which operate, respectively, the three mechanisms above men tioned, close together near the end of the crank-shaft, and connecting them with the three cranks, I am enahled to simplify greatly the gearing of this part oi' the loom, and at the same time readily and accurately adjust and determine the time of the motions.

The next part of my invention ,relates to the beltshipper.

In the use of looms, especially broad looms, it is frequently necessary to start or stop the loom when thel operator is at the side of the loom farthest from the belt-shipper, and therefore va second lever has been pivoted to the opposite side of the loom to operate the shipping-lever, by means of a sliding rod, carrying and operating a cam andl hook, This therefore, is limited to the combination of thesccond lever with the shipping-lever, when the second lever is connected directly with the shipping-lever, by means of a link, and is pivoted upon the arm of a rock-shaft, which extends across the front of the' loom, and has upon its other end an arm, which acts upon the shippingdever to release it.

In order more particularly to describe my invention, I will refer to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my improvements.

Figure 1` `is a plan view of a loom-frame with my improvements -Figure 2, a front elevation oi' thesame;

Figure 3, a side elevation of a portion of the loom, showing the harness-motion;

Figure 4, a detached section, showing the harnessmotion;

Figure 5, a detached view of the arrangement of cranks and gear-wheels with the end of the crank-shaft of the loom, for giving motion to the lifters and depressers, and pattern-mechanism connected with the heddle-jacks, and the pattern-mechanism forselecting the shuttles; and

Figure 6, a detached view of a portion of the beltshipper, with its roller-guides.

Letter a represents the frame of the loom.

b', the main shaft.

b, the driving-shaft, carrying the tight and loosepulleys bibs, and connected with the main shaft by a bevelled pinion, b, gearing into a crown-gear at the side of the gear-wheei b5, fast to the mainshaft b, which also gears into the cog-wheel bs, fast to the crank-shaft c, which drives the lay of the loom, (not represented in the drawings, which are only intended to represent the improvements herein described, and parts immediately connected with them.)

The forks of the belt-shipper are attached to a sliding band,y supported and guided by and between two anti-friction rollers cl d2, the latter'having flanges upon it to hold the slide-rod in place.

These rollers turn upon pins projecting from a bracket, or hanger, da, bolted to the rear of the side frame of the loom, the sliding bar *d being connected by a rod, d, to the /usual bell-crank lever d5, provided with a spring, d6, and operated by the shipping-lever e.

In front of, and extending across the loom, is a rockshaft, e, to one end of which is fixed an arm, e2, which, when moved against the shipping-lever, releases it from the catch in the slotted guide ei,- and at the other end of the rock-shaft is fixed an arm, e, that carries a fulcrum-pin, e, of the second shipping-lever, c6, connected directly with the main shipping-lever bya connectingrod, e.

part of myinventiou, v

When the operator desires to release the belt-shipper by the action of the second lever, he takes hold ,of the handle, and moves it toward the rear of the loom, thereby moving the rock-shaft and the releasingarm upon thc other end thereof, which latter pushes the shipping-lever backward, and releases it from the .notch by which it is held, so that the spring is free to aetuate the belt-shipper to throw ofi' the heit and stop the loom.

To start the loom hy means of the second lever, it is simply necessary to move the handle toward that of the main shippingdever, until the latter comes oppo site the notch which holds it, and then to move the handle of the second lever slightly toward the front of the loom, to remove the releasing-arm of the rockshaft from contact with the shipping-lever.

The rock-shaft e rocks in' bearings c3 c", but has a limited motion, the arm e* having projections or stops c e" above and below the rock-shaft, which alternately bear upon the loom-frame as the shaft is rocked one way or the other,

The crank-shaft c, which drives the lay, projects outside the loom-frame on the opposite side of the loom from thc gearing by which it is driven, and to it is fitted and secured a sleeve, or hub, j; o f a cog-wheei, f, from the side of which projects a crank-pin, f', which drives the link, or pitman j, that operates the lifters and depressers, and'in this loom the eveners also.

The cog-wheel f', upon the projecting end of the crank-shaft, gears into another cog-whee1, g, having the same number of teeth, and fast to a horizontal rotating spindle, or short shaft, g', which rotates in a bearing, g2, projecting from the bracket-frame which supports thc harness-motion, and carries upon its outer end a crank, g3, and crank-pin g, which drives the link, or pitman g5, anism of the harness-motion.

A crank-pin, h, projecting from the side of the cogwheel g, drives the link, or pitman h', which operates the pattern-mechanism h-Z for selecting the shuttles, which may be, as usual in looms, a pattern chain, or

pattern-barrel, and is not necessary to be further described herein.

The crank g3 is fixed in place to move the patternmechanism for selecting the heddle-jacks at the required time, by a pinching-screw, gs,- therefore, in order to set the three links to move at the proper time to operate their respective mechanism, it is only necessary to match the teeth of the two cog-wheels at a point which .determines the correct position of the twol links driven bythe crank-pins attached to them, and then to place the crank g3 in its proper anguiar position upon the short shaft or spindle, to determine the proper time of movement of the link which it drives, and secure it by the set-screw.

It will he seen that this arrangement ofthe cranks and pitmen avoids the ordinary complicated arrangement of gearing and connections usually employed for the purpose.

In fancy-looms, the number of leaves ofheddles used varies in accordance with the pattern, but only two are shown in the drawings, the operation of one being the same as the operation of the rest.-

In my improved harness-motion, the heddles 'L' are connected by cords to a double series of bell-crank levers, one above and the other below, one of each series for each leaf of heddles, the cords t" passing up to the bell-crank levers i", over pulleys i3, directly over the heddles, and the cords 'i, passing downward diof hell-crank levers if', be-

rectly to the lower series neath the heddles.

lhe lower series of bell-crank levers have each connecting-cords "i6, which run to the pulleys i7, at the side of the loom-frame, outside thereof, and from thence that operates the pattermmechupwardto the lower ends of the upright sliding bars s j, to which they are hooked.

The upper ends'of the upright sliding bars j are connected with the horizontal arms'of the upper series ofbell-crank levers, so that whenever these np.

right slidingbars are moved up and down, the .leaves of heddles with which theyare respectively connected i .are also moved, there being one for each leafy 'of heddles.

. Each ofthe upright sliding barshas rack ofcogteeth, A

j', upon. it, which gears into a segment cog-wheel, k, there being one of these SegmentcogWheels for each sliding bar arranged in front of the sliding bars, upon a fixed shaft, k', common tothem all, and upon which they each turn freely, irrespective of each other.

-Guides j2 are placed behind the racks of the sliding bars, to keep them in place and in gear withtheteeth 'of the segment-wheels.

The horizontal hooked jacks mare alsoprovided` c with rack-teeth 'm1 upon their lower edges, which gear into the teeth of 'the segmentwheels k, so that when a jack is moved horizontally it moves theupright slidi ing bar vertically, through the segment-wheel, the slidl 'ing bars being shaped as shown in the drawings, to l permit the jacks to move backward over those parts which carry the rackteeth.

Directly beneath the horizontal booked jacks is placed the pattern-barrel n, `which may be armed with pins,

as shown in the drawings, or may carry the ordinary lpattern-chain usedin -tincy-looms, and is moved at the proper time `by apawl and ratchet, n,`actuated by the link, or pitman g", driven bythe crank g3, and held at rest by the friction-spring nl act-ing up'on the notched r wheel n, fast .to the shaft n, which carries the patternl mechanism. l

The horizontal hooked jacks, 4 whenselected bythe `pattern-mechanism, are moved either toward or fromthe loom, as required, by two reciprocating knives, "n"

` c a5,- one placed above landthe other belowA the jacks, in

channelled guides in the frame, `and reciprocatedy by means ofthe rock-shaft p, the upper knife being con- `nected to two arms, p p2, of the rock-shaft, by two y lnks,pu p, and therlower knife to two arms, 1151), of

the rock-shaft, by two links, p7 1r. l

' The upper knife is free to lift, in `order to prevent breakage, in case of interference of the jacks.4

` The-hooked jacks are heldin place by guides q, proljecting downwards from two framing-pieces q q, which extend over'the jacks, and are secured'to the frame.

Thev eveners, which in this loom close the shed and .bringallthe parts of the harnessemotionv into proper position for forming and opening the new shed, are

Ltwo horizontal rods, fr lr, one above and the other below the horizontal arms of the upper series of bellcrank levers connected withthe heddles.

They are guidedsoas to move in the same curve of mot-ion asthe parts of the arms of the bellecrank` levers upon which they act move, byimeans -of slotted l guides 'rz/ of the required curvature, through which they project, and are moved up and down by links, connected with two horizontal arms, fast to each end of the rock-shaft '11, the upper evener-rod lr being connected by the two links rfr5 to the arms r6 jl", and the lower evener-rod r by the links a lro to the arms rl' frl v The rock-shaft p, which thus moves the reciprocatingV knives, sometimes called lifters and depressers, and in this loom the eveners, is rocked by the link, or pitf man f3, driven by the crank lf, upon the projecting end ofthe crank-shaft of the loom. V y

The evener-rods may be made to move in the same curve of motion as that of the parts of the arms of thel levers uponwhich they act, without the use of the curved slotted guides, by attaching, to each endof the evener-rods, arms pivote'd upon the same centre of mction the' fulcra of the levers.

The drawings show this harness-motion adapted to barrow looms, with single cords connecting withf the heddles over pulleys placed centrally above them, but in broad looms the usual double connections of cords or straps running over two sets of pulleys above the heddlesare of course to be used.

The extent of motion of the different 'heddles of a fancy-loom varies with their location, and may be regulated by making the arms ofthe bell-crank levers with which the cords connect, of different lengths, or

by placing anumber of notches in the arms, into which the connecting-cords may be hooked, as required.

1. In combination with the jacks, arranged horizontally at the side of the loom, and projecting outward therefrom, thesegment-wheels and upright sliding bars, connected with the leaves of heddles, substantially as described. i v r Y `2. The evener.rods, in combination with the arms of the levers upon which they operate to close the shed, when the eveners are moved in the Vcurve de scribed by the movement of 'that part of the arms of thelevers with which the eveners are in contact, substantially as and for the purposes described.`

3. The arrangement and combination of the short crank-shaft with its two cranks and gear-wheel, with the gear-wheel and crank carried by the projecting end of the crank-shaft which drives the lay, whereby motion from the crank-shaft is imparted to the links which drive the lifter and depresser, and patternmechanism of the harness-motion, and the patternmechanismpfor selecting the shuttles, substantially as described. y

'4. In combination with themain shipping-lever, the rock-shaft, with its. releasing-arm, the second lever, and connecting-rod, substantially as described, whereby the loom may be stopped or started from either side, as vset forth. l

' J. Cr'DUGKWORTH. Witnesses:

E. M. Woon, RICHARD Ronnfrs. 

